CSE Doctoral Student Seminar: Muhan Zhang and Maede Zolanvari

DateApr 7, 2017

Start Time12:30 p.m.

End Time2 p.m.

LocationLopata Hall, Room 101

“Weisfeiler-Lehman Neural Machine for Link Prediction”

Muhan Zhang Adviser: Yixin Chen

We propose a next-generation link prediction method, Weisfeiler-Lehman Neural Machine (\textsc{Wlnm}), which learns topological features in the form of graph patterns that promote the formation of links. \textsc{Wlnm} has unmatched advantages including higher performance than state-of-the-art methods and universal applicability over various kinds of networks. \textsc{Wlnm} extracts an enclosing subgraph of each target link and encodes the subgraph as an adjacency matrix. The key novelty of the encoding comes from a fast hashing-based Weisfeiler-Lehman (WL) algorithm that labels the vertices according to their structural roles in the subgraph while preserving the subgraph's intrinsic directionality. After that, a neural network is trained on these adjacency matrices to learn a predictive model. Compared with traditional link prediction methods, \textsc{Wlnm} does not assume a particular link formation mechanism (such as common neighbors), but learns this mechanism from the graph itself. We conduct comprehensive experiments to show that \textsc{Wlnm} not only outperforms a great number of state-of-the-art link prediction methods, but also consistently performs well across networks with different characteristics.

“Data Links for Civilian Unmanned Aircraft Systems"

Maede ZolanvariAdviser: Raj Jain

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or more commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS); which includes: a UAV, a ground-based controller, and a system of communications between the two. The growth in civilian use of UAS for lifesaving and rescue missions, commercial, and even hobbyist use has been tremendous in recent years.

In addition, the economic profits that UAS have yielded thus far continue to make this field very attractive to investors and researchers alike. Regarding the lack of an onboard pilot and having to guide the UAV while providing a near real-time communication with the ground station and other UAVs alike, is essential. Unlike the traditional wireless communications, there is no general standard to govern the framework for civilian UAS to ensure the safety of everyone involved. Our project has been gathering the information about available options to choose a proper data link related to the civilian applications of UAVs.